And this is a fun and easy assignment from Trina at My Life My Words My Mind : ‘Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal/blog along with these instructions. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST. Tag five other people to do the same.’
Now, let’s see: the book that is always closest to me is my trusty Collins Robert Comprehensive English > French Dictionary. It’s very big and a great source of comfort: I know that should my memory fail (as it does more and more often these days) I can always rely on it to get me out of a tight spot.
Page 56 bang / bar
* to bang one’s fist on the table taper du poing sur la table
* to bang one’s head against or on something se cogner la tête contre ou à qch
* (fig) you’re banging your head against a brick wall when you argue with him autant cracher en l’air que d’essayer de discuter avec lui
* to bang the door (faire) claquer la porte
* he banged the window shut il a claqué la fenêtre
Fascinating, isn’t it? If you want to know what comes next, you’ll have to buy your own copy of the book: there’s another 1284 pages like that.
I’d like to tag:
GSE at Really Quite Useful
Brian at Brian Sibley: the blog
Bowleserised at Bowleserised
Sunday 2 November 2008
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I think it's interesting! Of course, I'm a dork who finds language incredibly fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI spent an abnormally (to most folks) long time on Halloween discussing (with a native Brazilian) how "trick or treat" doesn't translate into Portuguese. Attempting to do so apparently yields a phrase that means "prepetrate a fraud, or you shall be medicated." LOL!
Not so much fascinating as telling about you.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to pick up the closest book, it would be my church's membership phone directory. Neither fascinating nor telling. I must start keeping more interesting reading material close to the PC.
Isn't language wonderful, T!
ReplyDeleteLiterally, 'trick or treat' would translate into French the way it does into Portuguese. LOL! It is still possible to translate it - 'Des bonbons ou un mauvais tour' conveys the meaning of the phrase quite well.
TLP, I probably wouldn't have a dictionary on my desk if I wasn't a translator (not in such a prominent place, anyway). They've varied in sizes and usefulness, but I've had a dictionary of one kind or another by my side for 35 years. They've never even had pictures. :-(